A Twist In Time
by TheatreGeek06
Summary: Wanting to prove that Regina has always been evil Henry uses magic to go back in time. His plans change though when he learns he was wrong about his mom. Now knowing that if she doesn't become the Evil Queen the curse will never be cast & he will never be born leaves him with a choice, his life or Regina's happiness. For him the choice is simple but is he prepared for the results?
1. Prologue

A/N Inspired by the gif set on tumblr by faithandfearcollide where Henry goes back in time to meet a younger Regina in hopes of preventing the feud between her and Snow White. This is my interpretation of how things would go. Disclaimer not my characters blah blah blah. Not beta'd so all mistakes are mine.

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Henry hated the fighting between his mom and Snow, it was stupid. Regina tried to blame Snow for ruining her life, but he didn't believe it. His mom was the Evil Queen, she had chosen that path herself. It wasn't Snow's fault that Cora had killed Daniel even if she had told a secret. Henry even bet that if Snow had kept it his mom would still have become the Evil Queen because she was just bad, and he was going to prove it.

"Mr. Gold?" Henry entered the pawnshop.

At first he didn't see him and began to see if there was anything he could use for his new plan. Everything in the front seemed pretty harmless, except a set of puppets that just looked creepy, he figured anything useful would be out of the public eye. Sneaking into the back Henry found more of the type of items he was looking for. There were strange looking stones, other creepy figurines and various bottles some filled with different colored liquids, some plants and one had what he thought might be cricket legs.

"I wouldn't touch that if I were you," Gold's voice startled him as he reached for a block of wood with runes burned into it.

"Mr. Gold." Henry swallowed nervously. "I called but you weren't here."

"Well I'm here now how can I help you?" The shop owner asked with a calculating smile.

"I want to prove that it wasn't Mary Margaret's fault that my mom became the Evil Queen." Henry frowned.

Gold continued to smile and with a flourish of his hand and a puff of black smoke a small round stone disappeared from a case on the wall and appeared in his palm. "I think this might help you with your endeavor."

"What is it?" The boy asked but didn't really care what so much as how to use it.

"Oh just a little trinket I found over the centuries." He held the stone up to look at it in the light. "Very easy to use, just hold it tightly and think of where you want to be."

"It that simple?" Henry asked skeptically.

"Indeed," The Dark One nodded. "Magic is not an intellectual endeavor, with the right tools its very simple, which is why it is so dangerous in the wrong hands."

A chill went down the boy's spine as he saw the wicked glint in Mr. Gold's eyes but he took the stone anyway. With it he could prove that Mary Margaret wasn't to blame for everything that happened and maybe they'd stop fighting. He held the stone and let it roll in his hand as he studied it.

"So I just wish?"

"Yes my boy, it's that easy. As long as you're in a world with magic wishing is all it takes. There is one exception though…" He elaborated ominously, "You can only use the stone to travel to a place in time once, meaning you can't change an event twice but just in case you are unhappy with your attempts to meddle with history all you have to do is smash the stone and everything will be as it was before you first used it. Just know if you do decide to smash it the stone will never work for you again."

Henry nodded. He assumed Rumple had used this item to try to get his son back at some point in the Enchanted Forest but failed. Closing his eyes he held the stone tight and began to wish to be transported to right before a young Snow White met Regina for the first time.

"Can't get something for nothing. If I give this to you I need you to do a favor for me." Another flick of his hand and a rolled piece of parchment appeared. "Wherever you happen to end up, make sure you find me, and give me this before you return here. So, do we have a deal?"

After talking to Gold Henry went home to pack a bag. He didn't know how long he'd be gone and wanted to have a few supplies, so he threw a few chocolate bars, a flashlight and a of course the book just in case he needed to consult on something. Taking the marble sized stone out of his pocket he studied it for a moment. What if this was a trick? Rumplestiltskin was a bad guy and Henry himself had once said he was worse than the Evil Queen. Magic always came with a price, that's what his book had told him, but right now he was thinking it was a price he'd be willing to pay if it meant Snow and his mom would stop fighting. He was so sure that his mom had always the Evil Queen it did not occur to him that even one secret told could change everything.

So with his bag packed he held the stone tight and wished.


	2. Chapter 1

Thanks to those of you who've already added alerts and wrote reviews, it makes me smile :) You guys rock!

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Henry found himself standing in the forest, but not the forest of Storybooke, no he could feel the difference, and he knew he was in the Enchanted Forest of Fairytale World. The sound of voices caught his attention and he noticed a group a people taking a rest from travel in a nearby clearing.

"I'm so tired of these endless journeys " A girl whined.

"Your father the King, is a lonely man. But have faith. Someday his wandering will end." The woman with her smiled and the child reluctantly smiled back.

Then he noticed the young princess's face, it was Snow White as a kid. It was so weird, she couldn't be much older than he was, this must be what Emma feels like he thought. Henry leaned forward trying to get a better view and when he did he saw someone hiding behind the tree line at the other edge of the clearing. As soon as he saw her he knew she had seen him too, and as he realized that, a sick feeling settled at the pit of his stomach. The boy stumbled backward into the leaves with a thud.

"What was that?" One of the guards asked having heard Henry's clumsy footsteps.

"Probably just a wolf," Another of the guards answered as he scanned the area. "All the same we should probably continue on."

"Alright Princess back in the carriage." Joanna instructed the girl.

"But I thought I'd get to go on horseback for the next part of the trip." Snow frowned and crossed her arms.

"Not if there's wolves about," Snow's caretaker tried to usher her toward the carriage. "Now hurry up."

Henry peeked back over the fallen tree truck he'd been hiding behind, and watched the royal procession head out. He could no longer see the woman who had been lurking on the opposite side of the clearing. Well that was easy enough Henry thought to himself. He knew that Snow had met Regina when her horse had gone wild, so if Snow was riding in the carriage then everything should be fine. This time when his mom became the Evil Queen she wouldn't be able to blame Snow White. He stood up about to take the stone out of his pocket planning to return home when in a puff of smoke the woman he'd seen appeared.

"Who are you," The witch asked, her eyes studying him eerily.

Henry didn't bother to answer, he knew this woman must be trouble and he should get away from her as quickly as possible. Without another thought be began running aimlessly through the woods just trying to get away from the witch. He hoped those royal guards were still close enough as he called for help but none came. As he jumped over a log his backpack fell from his shoulder and as he attempted to lift it back up he tripped and tumbled to the ground with a yelp.

A puff of smoke and the woman had caught up to him, "Running from me is foolish."

Henry tried to inch away but the woman had magic, he was trapped and powerless. Just when he feared the worst would happen he could hear the sound of horse hooves approaching quickly and in an instant the witch had disappeared.

"Are you alright?" A young woman dismounted her horse and helped lift Henry to his feet.

Henry was about to say he was fine but when he looked at his rescuer's face all he could do was stare. It was his mom, but that's not what surprised him, it was that she looked so different, and not just because she was younger. It took him a minute to realize the real different was because she looked happy and in that moment he realized he'd never seen her smile without an underlying layer of sadness or malice.

"What?" Regina shook her head and chuckled amused by this boy staring at her with an unusual sense of awe. "Never seen a woman ride like that?"

"Never," He answered after realizing he hadn't actually responded to her original question.

"Regina." She introduced herself with a smile.

"I'm Henry…" he paused, he'd almost said Mills which could have made her suspicious. "Henry Swan."

This was all too surreal he thought. He'd been so sure that his mom had always been evil that seeing her like this turned his world upside down. He was a total stranger to her, but still she'd come just because she'd heard him call for help. All this time Henry had believed she must have been born bad, but perhaps evil wasn't born it was made.

"Hey I saw that fall. Are you alright?" A man who looked slightly older than Regina asked.

"Yeah I think so…" Henry mumbled still trying to come to terms with this version of his mother.

"Daniel," Regina walked over to take the hand of the man who'd joined them, "this is Henry, Henry this is my very good friend Daniel."

"Hello Henry." Daniel came over and shook the boy's hand. "Where are your parents? Is your father here?"

Henry shook his head no.

"What about your mother? Is she nearby?" Regina asked.

"Umm you could say that…" The boy responded awkwardly. Then seeing the bemused look of his company added, "it's complicated."

The three of them stood there silently for a moment. Part of Henry just wanted them to go so he could use the stone to return to Storybrooke but another part of him wanted to spend time with this Regina.

"Well would you like us to help you look for your mother? She must be worried sick." Regina was the first to break the silence.

"No!" He said too quickly to be natural. Trying to look for one of his mothers was pointless as she was standing right there and the other wouldn't be born for years but obviously he couldn't tell them that. "What I mean is she said she was going to a market and um I was supposed to wait here and she'd be coming back for me."

Regina and Daniel exchanged a look, clearly not believing his story.

"Did you run away from your home?" Daniel asked.

The boy looked back and forth between the two, "You don't know what was like with her. I'm angry all the time… she was making me crazy."

As Henry let out his feelings he watched the concern on his younger mother's face intensify. Regina knew the kind of feeling the child was talking about, she knew if it weren't for Daniel those words could very well be coming from her own mouth.

"Henry how would you like to come join me for dinner, perhaps stay in one of the guest quarters and figure out what you want to do about your mother tomorrow?" Regina offered.

"Really?" He didn't want to admit he liked that plan but couldn't hide the excitement from his voice.

What was one day anyway? As long as he had the stone he could return to his own time and besides he still had to keep his deal with Rumplestiltskin. His paternal grandfather had made it sound as if his very life depended on delivering the note and although he didn't really trust him, in this instance he didn't really want to risk it.

"Of course you can stay, but I must apologize in advance." Regina frowned. "My mother may be cross with me, I'm afraid I've made myself late for tea."

"I'm sure she'll understand, you were helping someone." Daniel tried to reassure her.

"You really don't know my mother." Regina sighed.

Regina mounted her horse gracefully and held out her hand to Henry, with a boost from Daniel the boy was seated behind his mother.

"I'll see you later?" Daniel asked Regina.

"Yes." She nodded then looked at Henry. "Hold on tight."

Henry did as he was told and in a second the two were galloping across the countryside. It didn't take long to make it back to the grounds. Henry had been impressed by his mom's skill at riding and told her so once she'd put her horse back in his stall.

"Thank you," Regina smiled brightly. Riding was something that she loved and even dared to take pride in. "I love horses. Mother doesn't really approve but riding keeps me sane."

Henry bit his lip not wanting to say the first thing that had popped into his mind. As they walked toward the house, which, to Henry's mind seemed more like a castle, an older man walked out to greet them.

"Daddy," Regina exclaimed gleefully.

Without any hesitation ran toward her father and embraced him. Henry watched in awe, this girl was nothing like he expected his mother to be.

"Darling, you know how your mother gets." The gentleman spoke to his daughter.

"I know daddy but look, we have a guest." Regina gestured to the boy. "This is Henry Swan."

"Hi," Henry waved and gave them a crooked smile.

"Nice to meet you lad, my name is Henry as well." The elder Henry introduced himself and shook the boy's hand.

"Henry's going to be joining us for dinner and I've offered him a room for the night." Regina explained as they entered the house.

"You're late for tea." Cora's voice called from the other room before Henry Sr. could respond. "If I've told you once I've told you a thousand times,"

"A lady never misses her tea time," Regina chimed in with Cora but rolled her as she turned and knelt down, trying to make Henry look as presentable as possible before her mother walked in.

"Regina, dear, this house is not a charity we can't afford to be taking orphans–" Cora stopped speaking and scowled at the boy she recognized from just having ruined the very good plan she'd orchestrated.

Regina and her father were still facing the younger Henry so they couldn't see the contemptuous glare that had flickered on Cora's face but Henry could and it made him swallow nervously.

"You know what… she's right I should go." Henry tried to back away. Cora terrified him and he feared spending one more minute with her, he couldn't imagine how his mother had lived with her for her whole life.

Of course had known Cora was bad news but he'd never actually seen her face. In the book she always wore a mask as the Queen of Hearts so he didn't realize until this moment it was Regina's mother who had been lurking in the woods stalking the young Snow White.

"No actually," Cora now had a fake smile plastered on her face, "I insist you stay. My daughter was so good to offer you a room, I wouldn't want to make her a liar."

Dinner was an awkward affair and the hours leading up to it Henry had refused to leave either Regina or Henry Sr.'s side for fear of being alone in a room with Cora. He didn't trust her and she knew it, the only thing that kept him safe was Regina's and her father's ignorance of the danger. Once their meal was finished Cora took Regina aside for a lesson and one of the servants showed the younger Henry to his room.

Alone in the guest chambers Henry pulled out the parchment Mr. Gold had made him promise to deliver. All he had to do was say the Dark One's name and he should appear.

"Mr. Gold I summon you." Henry commanded. After a moment of nothing he smacked his hand to his forehead feeling foolish. Gold wasn't his name here.

"Rumplestiltskin I summon you!" he amended.

Again nothing happened. Henry frowned, after a third attempt with no results he decided to give up and put the note back in his bag, but as he turned around a face was inches from his own.

"Why have you called me boy," The Dark One asked.

Of course he'd seen Mr. Gold in his fairytale form in his book, but on page and in person were very different things. Henry was so startled he only managed to fall backward and stutter.

"Not very intelligent are you." Rumplestiltskin eyed Henry curiously. "You're going to need to be more articulate than that of you want to make a deal with me."

"I don't want to make any deals." Henry stood finally finding his voice.

"Oh," Rumple leaned closer to the boy and whispered loudly in his ear. "Then why'd ya summon me?"

"I have message for you." He held out the paper.

"Ooo, a message for me?" Rumplestiltskin clapped his hands and began to hop around the room like a maniacal four-year-old before he snatched up the note. Once he'd grabbed it however the imp became all-serious, continually looking up from the message to study the boy.

"Well," Rumple spoke again once he'd finished reading. "This should be interesting."

Swiftly he plucked some hair from the boy's head and with an eerie giggle and a puff of smoke Rumplestiltskin disappeared.

After a moment of bewilderment Henry shook off his confusion and went in search of Regina. He didn't make it very far when he bumped into the elder Henry.

"Oh, I'm sorry sir," he apologized, "I was just trying to find Regina."

The older man chuckled, "Has the young master developed a slight infatuation with my daughter?"

"Ew no," Henry made a face.

"Still to young then for those kind of feelings," Henry Sr. smiled and patted the boy on his head. The younger Henry was about to object but then realized it wasn't like he could tell this man Regina was his future mother. Fortunately he didn't have to explain as the older Henry continued speaking. "Regina's room is just four more rooms down this hall on the right."

"Thanks," He continued down the hall.

The door to his mother's room was slightly ajar and he could see her reading by candlelight. It all reminded him of when he was younger and he'd had a nightmare. He used to sneak out of his room and he always found his mom reading.

"M… I mean Regina?" He called to get her attention.

"Henry?" she looked up from her book and smiled. "Come in."

"Was your mother very mad about tea," Henry hesitated, "and… you bringing me here?"

Fear flickered for a moment on the woman's face, "Oh, well she just wanted to know who you were. She was a little upset when I had no information to tell her, but its all right my mother loves me."

Henry knew she wasn't saying everything, he couldn't have imagined Cora would be gentle when asking her about him. He stared trying to figure Regina out. How could she be so sure that Cora loved her when she treated her like that, and what did that say about him since all he did was doubt that his mother loved him?

"Tell me about Daniel." Henry changed the subject. "Was it love at first sight?"

"How did you know?" Regina asked nervously.

"Its pretty obvious." Henry rolled his eye good-naturedly. "Don't worry I won't tell I just wanted to hear about you two."

Regina fiddled awkwardly with a loose thread on her blanket for what seemed like ages before finally speaking.

"It wasn't love at first sight." Regina recalled. "I suppose you could say the first thing I felt when I first saw Daniel was shock."

_She was ten when her father brought her to the stables to meet her new pony and riding teacher. As soon as she saw the young stallion being lead out she new it was hers. She wanted to run up to the horse but knew that would only startle him so she waited still he was brought to her._

_"Regina, meet Daniel." Henry introduced them._

_"You're my new riding instructor?" She felt insulted to be taught by a boy not much older than she was._

_"Be nice dear," Her father had told her. "Daniel here is very good with the horses and you'd do well to listen to him._

_"Hello" Daniel smiled at her. "Have you ever ridden before?" _

_"Of course I've ridden before." Regina replied hotly and marched toward the arena._

"It was almost four years before I could even admit I liked Daniel and another year before I realized that I loved him. I mean he was the stable boy and I was well… me." She shrugged with a smile," but he never gave up, he was always there for me, still is. Sometimes I think if we could just run away everything would be ok. Mother wants me to be queen but I just want him, is that too much to ask for?"

"No, its really not." Henry frowned.

"Oh, I'm sorry I've made you uncomfortable." Regina apologized. "Mother always tells me I'm too free with my thoughts."

"Its not that..." He trailed off.

As Henry had listened to her story he realized what he had to do. He had been wrong his mother wasn't evil, she had done horrible things but he could change that. He knew now that if Regina ran away with Daniel she wouldn't become the Evil Queen. That would also mean, though that he would never be born because Snow and Prince Charming wouldn't have to send Emma through the wardrobe, but even if it meant his own life Henry had to do the right thing. He had to give his mothers' their happiness, Regina would have Daniel, and Emma would get to be raised by her parents.

"You should do it." Henry finally told her with determination. "Run away with your true love."

"Henry, I can't its not that simple."

"It is, it has to be. Leave tonight, deep down you know your mother won't change her mind about Daniel but you can run away. You can be happy, just not here."

Realizing he was right Regina smiled hopefully and kissed his forehead. "Would you like to come with us?"

"I would, really I would but I think I should find my mom." Henry told her, though really he'd just figured he'd start disappearing or something now that he'd changed the past.

Regina nodded and grabbed her cloak and her bag, "I'll never forget you Henry Swan."

Henry hugged her then ran back to his room not wanting to say goodbye. From his window he watched her sneak over to the stables. It wasn't long after she'd arrived there before Henry saw two horses galloping away.

That was it, he thought, but as he sat in the room nothing seemed to happen to him. Henry imagined he'd disappear or at least start to fade away or something. He even pinched his arm but the slight pain made him believe he was still alive. He sighed thoroughly disheartened. Perhaps letting her escape with Daniel wasn't enough, maybe she still becomes the Evil Queen after all.

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So what do you think? Should I keep going?


	3. Chapter 2

A/N Big thanks to all of you who have read and reviewed it's really great to see those numbers go up :) Hope you enjoy chapter 2 sorry its a little short.

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Using the stone to wish his way back to the present, Henry found himself standing in the back of Gold shop, everything looked the same, but looks could be deceiving. He couldn't explain it but things just seemed a little off. One thing he knew for sure, though, was that if he was standing in Gold's Pawnshop than the dark curse had been cast. Before he could think about it any further without warning Henry felt himself being pulled backward by the collar of his shirt.

"I don't take kindly to thieves." Gold's familiar Storybrooke voice threatened him.

"I'm not a thief I swear." Henry protested, trying, and failing to pull himself out of Mr. Gold's grip.

"Not a thief?" The shop owner laughed darkly. "Then open your hand."

"You gave this to me." Henry showed him the stone. He knew Gold was dangerous but he was acting more scary than usual.

Mr. Gold studied the boy and the item. He didn't say anything but let Henry go, the boy didn't waste anytime before running out of the shop. If Henry had taken a moment to look over his shoulder he would have seen a strange look emerging on Gold's face. The shopkeeper was remembering.

Henry ran down the street, he had to find Emma, she was the savior, she could help. His first thought was to get to the sheriff's station but he didn't see her bug or the patrol car out front so his next stop was Granny's. As he made the walk, the feeling he'd had when he'd arrived back in Gold's pawnshop started to resurface, the feeling that although things looked the same they weren't.

Inside he saw Granny taking standing at the counter talking to a man reading the newspaper. He would have talked to Ruby but he didn't see her, instead there was a blonde waitress pouring Marco a refill on his coffee. Henry shrugged if Ruby wasn't around he figured Granny would be able to help him.

"Hey Granny, have you seen my mom?" He asked her.

"I don't know who you are, let alone who your mom is." The older woman glanced at him dismissively then called to a waitress that an order was up.

At first Henry thought that maybe he just hadn't come forward in time far enough, and that Emma was still in Boston but that wouldn't explain why Granny didn't recognize him. He decided to try a different approach.

"My mom, Regina Mills, you must know her."

"I told you I don't know you and I don't know your mom." Granny repeated getting a little annoyed, "Now are you going to order something or not?"

Henry shook his head and pulled his backpack up as he left the diner. This didn't make any sense. If Emma wasn't here and the name Regina Mills didn't mean anything then how was he even here? He was so deep in thought she wasn't paying attention as nearly walked into the street."

"Watch where you're going boy," A hand roughly pulled him back to safety.

"Graham?" Henry mouth hung open in surprise.

"Do I know you?" The Sheriff looked him over. "Hey shouldn't a boy your age be in school right now?"

"Ugh..." Henry finally closed his mouth. "Alright you caught me, I was skipping. I'll go back right now."

"See that you do." The sheriff turned and began walking away muttering how he couldn't stand people and should have just become a park ranger instead.

Henry picked up the pace walking in the direction of the school though he had no intention of actually going there. He rubbed his temples trying to push away his headache. If Graham was alive then something had seriously changed. Stopping by a decorative fountain with a golden knight he didn't remember ever seeing before the boy a moment to splash some water in his face to try to ease his thoughts. That's when he realized it was Rumplestiltskin, that note he'd been instructed to deliver probably had been a matter of life or death for him and the hair Gold had taken was also involved.

Rumple must have protected him with magic, something to keep him safe from the paradox he'd created. But if Emma wasn't here, than the curse hadn't been broken and magic did not exist, and if magic didn't exist would he begin to disappear like Pinocchio had began to transform back into wood? He didn't know and had no one to ask. He didn't exist. No friends, no family, he was alone in this world.

It was getting late as he circled around the town, noticing a strange man locking the doors to the convenient store where he used to buy comic books, and had been accused of shoplifting that one time because of Hansel and Gretel.

"Excuse me?" Henry called to him. "Where's Mr. Clark?"

"I'm Mr. Clark." The man responded.

Henry furrowed his brow. Some people's names must just be different here. "I mean the man who owns this place. He has brown hair, beard, perpetual hay fever, about this tall," he held up his hand to illustrate that the man he was talking about was actually rather short.

"I don't know anyone like that," The man thought, "though this town is bigger than you think."

"Oh, well do you know anyone named Walter, he worked at the hospital… or um Leroy the town drunk," Henry tried to see if this guy knew where any of the other dwarves' Storybrooke counterparts were.

"Don't know any Leroy, but if you're looking for our town drunk Lacey is probably at The Rabbit Hole though. I don't know why you'd be looking for her. She's trouble." The man was distracted by looking for his keys otherwise he might not be talking about bars and drunks.

"Thanks," Henry sighed. This didn't make any sense. How could what he have done mean the dwarves weren't here?

As the sun set the only thing that could be heard as he walked down the street was the occasional car driving by, since Storybrooke was once again without the comforting melody of crickets. His feet took him to his old wooden castle. It was still standing since his mom hadn't torn it down in this world. What had once been his safe haven would now be again, sitting on the edge he let his feet dangle as he pulled out the book in search of answers. If the strangeness of the town hadn't been enough to signal something drastic had changed than he would have noticed the minute he opened his beloved book.

He pulled out his flashlight and began flipping through pages until he found the part he was looking for. The fall of the Evil Queen and in the picture above the caption was Snow White.


	4. Chapter 3

A/N No real notes just another thank you to everyone reading. I'm so glad that you all are enjoying it. Also felt like giving the story an special cover so there's that... Anywho here's chapter 3!

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Once Upon a Time there lived a kind King by the name of Leopold, though ogres still caused some trouble in the lands things were relatively peaceful. That was until the new Queen took the throne. Her name was Snow White. The princess had been young, many said too young, and Snow who had been used to getting everything she'd ever wanted was not accustomed to being questioned. Rummers had spread quickly that the young woman was unfit to rule and when talk of rebellion reached the new Queen's ears she put an end it it swiftly and violently. People believed the queen's heart was as cold as her name suggested and so called her the Snow Queen but many just called her evil.

After years of expanding her realm the peoples' fear of the Snow Queen reached an all time high. She has always been greedy arrogant and ruthless, but the massacre of a small village where she believed a traitor was hiding had been the final straw. Many had sought help and council as to how to end her reign but to no avail. It did not help that The Dark One himself had taught the young woman how to use magic. The fairies though had been searching for an answer and believed that peace could be returned when the rightful heir had claimed the throne.

Most people were skeptical, but still a few dared to hope, and took the rumor seriously trying to find who should be next in line. Unfortunately many of the other royals were either dead by Snow's own hand or had died from the plague that had ravaged the lands the previous year. Still the time came when the people had found their answer in the lost princess, Regina Mills.

The granddaughter of King Xavier once nineteenth in line was now next since Snow had killed Xavier and his son Henry and claimed their kingdom as part of her own. Many knew the names of Regina and her husband Daniel from the kind and generous deeds the two had done as they wandered from town to town. Regina had been trying to evade her mother for years, though when the plague had seemed to mysteriously disappear so too did any news of Cora Mills.

"Greetings," A shepherd was the first of his group to speak. "Are you Regina Mills?"

"Who wants to know?" She replied nervously.

Regina was aware of the fairies prophecy and so knew The Snow Queen would be too. The woman was fairly certain that the village that had been decimated only three weeks prior had been because the Evil Queen was looking for her.

"My name is David, we want to help you take back your kingdom."

The group that had come in search for her was small, David assured her there were others out they waiting and hoping she would claim the throne but were just too afraid to fight. Regina could not begrudge those who feared conflict she herself was one of them which is why she had not attempted to fight back before and why she had spent years hiding from her mother. Magic was dangerous, powerful and not something to be toyed with.

"But how will we defeat her?" A slightly hostile dwarf asked.

"Use me a bait." Regina offered. A series of objections came forth but Regina merely held up her hand to silence them. "You know Snow White is dangerous, I cannot have you risk your lives in open warfare against her. It's me she wants. No doubt she has heard the whispers of the fairies and she will be looking for me."

"The princess is right," David agreed. "All we need to do is make sure the meeting is on our terms and we shall have the element of surprise. I have a plan which will hopefully bring an end to her reign with no undue bloodshed."

It only took three days for the word of Regina Mills' location to reach the ears of the Snow Queen. The plan was simple; all they needed to do was distract Snow White long enough for the Blue Fairy to hit her with a spell that would bind the Evil Queen and her magic. The only condition for the plan was that Regina forbid Daniel from being there, because she didn't know what she would do if anything ever happened to him.

If was afternoon and Regina was fetching some water from a well when she felt the Queen's presence.

"You don't have to do this." She tried to reason with her.

Snow lifted her hand to summon some kind of magic. "No, I really think I do."

"Now!" Regina yelled and the moment the Blue Fairy's magic hit Snow White the Evil Queen was immobilized.

"Didn't see that coming did you?" David smiled victoriously and went to clap Regina on the arm.

Unfortunately Snow White had not been alone, though most of her men had accept defeat when the Evil Queen had been entrapped, her Huntsman had not stopped and sprung forward toward the usurper. In less than a second the shepherd had seen the movement behind Regina and spun her around taking the Huntsman's blade instead. The other members of the resistance quickly subdued the Huntsman but it was too late for David.

"Awe did my Huntsman kill your true love." Snow smirked. It wasn't the victory she wanted but she'd take it, if she couldn't kill Regina, her husband Daniel would have to do. At least this way Regina wouldn't be able to enjoy her ill-gotten throne.

"That wasn't Daniel. " She shook her head at the misguided woman.

The fairies removed Snow White and Regina knelt down to the brave man's side. Watching this man, who she had only met three days ago, die before her was heartbreaking. If he had any reservations about taking the throne before they died with David. This man had sacrificed his life because he believed she would be a good queen and Regina was determined to prove him right.

The soon-to-be queen traveled with the small band of rebels and Snow's former guards to the White Palace. On the way Regina was horrified to hear the stories of Snow's reign of evil from those who had carried out the orders. There was one story in particular she had wondered about, though all knew her father had been killed her mother had just seemed to disappear. None of the Snow's former guards wanted to speak until one admitted had been there when the Snow Queen had pushed her mother though a magic mirror when she had set her sights on what was then King Henry's kingdom.

"You took my mother from me." Regina came to Snow's jail. She spoke evenly trying to hide thee hurt she felt, even though she and Cora had never seen eye to eye the woman was still her mother.

"Well she took mine so that seems fitting doesn't it." Snow mocked her.

"I thought she died do to illness." But even as she said the words she realized the circumstances had seemed strange. Queen Eva had been in perfect health until the day she fell ill and if that wasn't unusual enough than the fact that her mother had been in a particularly high spirits after.

Snow saw the doubt in Regina's eyes and sneered, "So you did know."

"No." Regina tried to assure the younger woman but hatred had once again set in on Snow's face. "I swear I didn't know."

"Your mother has tormented me for years, I didn't know why my life seemed cursed until the day I met her"

_"If your mother could see you now." Cora had laughed._

_Snow stood with two of her men over the dead body of the late King Henry. "What do you know of my mother?"_

_Again Cora laughed arrogantly, "It is because of Eva that I am the woman I am today." _

_Snow had furrowed her brow in disbelief. "You were friends with my mother? Please before you married King Xavier's son wou were a pesant. My mother never would have associated with the likes of you."_

_The sneer that had flashed on Cora's face did not even begin to relate how displeased she was to be reminded of her life as a pesant, and Eva's superior attitude. The day Eva had tripped her in the palace had changed her life, it was that day that her pride had been challenged and the dominos began to fall. So, yes, while Princess Eva was certainly not her friend and would not have associated with her, it was indeed because of her that Cora was the woman she was today. Cora had explained to Snow that it was her life's work to destroy the young princess and make her own daughter queen._

"She killed her because of you, so you could be Queen!"

"I never wanted to be Queen." Regina's voice cracked as she spoke. "You killed my father. Haven't we both suffered enough?"

"He threatened my right to rule." Snow leaned toward the bars. "So no."

"You're still just a child." Regina looked at the other woman with pity. "The people out there, they're calling for your head."

"So let them have it!" Snow spat, she would not beg for her life from this woman.

"If what you said about my mother is true than I can't, and even if it weren't... killing isn't the answer. So I'm letting you go. The people no longer want you as their queen. Go, use this as a chance to change to find something good in yourself and in doing so, find some peace."

"Just like that?" Snow laughed darkly.

"Just like that." Regina told her sincerely.

"You're a fool."

The dethroned queen pulled Regina's dagger from her and stabbed the other woman in the stomach. To Snow's surprise the blade caused no physical harm to Regina but the older woman's disheartened expression showed she was clearly in pain.

"This was a trick?" Snow snarled when she realized the dagger had not cut flesh.

"A test." Daniel appeared.

"One that I had truly hoped you'd pass." Regina looked pained.

Daniel put his hand on his wife's shoulder as he spoke to the evil queen "We wanted to give you a chance to change, Snow."

"Snow White, you are banished. Banished to live alone with your misery."

Regina's voice was hollow as she made her decreed. It gave her no joy to enact the banishment but Snow White was dangerous.

"As long as you're alive in this world, you can't hurt us." Daniel informed her.

Yes, Rumplestiltkin had protected Regina and Daniel from his protégé in this world, but he had no wish to remain in this realm he needed to be in another and he needed someone to cast his curse. He needed someone with enough magic and pain who would be willing to take the heart of the one they loved most to risk it all for a chance at happiness and Snow White was just the one to do that for him.

The former queen sat next to her ailing father. Leopold had been a great king when his wife had been alive but after her death he had begun to deteriorate. He lost intrest in running the kingdom and the task fell to Snow before she should have had to deal with such things. To him Snow was the only thing that still mattered in the world and he spoiled the girl, always telling her she was perfect, she could do no wrong. Leopold had been a victim of the plague like many other royals but it was never severe enough to kill him, Snow assumed it was just another part of Cora's plan to torment her.

"You have a visitor." Leopold coughed.

"Who?" Snow asked then looked behind her where Rumplestiltskin had just appeared, black swirls of smoke still coming off his skin.

"You need to ask? What other friends do you have, dearie?" The Dark One laughed.

"You're no friend." Snow suspected he had something to do with the protection spell that was keeping her foe safe. "Have you come to relish my suffering?"

Rumple ignored the hostility. "I thought you'd want someone to help raise your spirits. Especially on a day like today."

"What's so special about today?" She eyed him suspiciously.

The Dark One gave a dramatic gasp, " You don't know? Why it's our dear Regina's coronation, of course. Didn't you get an invitation? Me neither. I'm sure she and that stable boy will live happily ever after."

Snow glared murderously at him. "And, because of you, there's nothing I can do to stop it. No way to harm them in this land ever again."

"Yes. Yes, I suppose that's true… In this land."

"What?" She asked curiously sensing a hidden meaning.

"The deal I made was explicit. You can never harm them in 'this' land. Now, were you to bring them to another land… well…" He shrugged with a knowing grin and Snow smiled as with realization." Told you I was your friend."

The imp disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"Guards!" She called to the few men who had remained loyal to her and Leopold. "Bring my carriage. I'll be back soon father, I have a wedding to get to."

It didn't take long to get to the castle that had previously been hers. She almost wanted to have her men just set fire to the whole castle but this would be so much more gratifying.

"Sorry I'm late." The doors flew open and Snow stood at the opening smiling wickedly. Two guards attempted to stop her but she pushed them away with magic, the protection that Rumplestiltskin had provided only worked for Regina and Daniel.

"It's the queen run." One of the guests whispered fearfully.

"She's not the queen anymore." Regina stood the crown now placed on her head.

"You're wasting your time, you've already lost, and I will not let you ruin this day." Daniel stood.

"I'm not here to ruin anything. On the contrary, I'm here to give you a gift."

"We want nothing from you-" Regina told her.

"And yet you shall have it. My gift you," The former queen glared at everyone, "to all of you, is this happy, happy day, because tomorrow, my real work begins. Soon, everything you love, everything all of you love, will be taken from you. Forever. And out of your suffering, will rise my victory. I shall destroy your happiness, if it is the last thing I do."

Henry read the lines and closed the book.

"What have I done?" he asked himself.


	5. Chapter 4

Thanks again to all or you who are enjoying the story, follows, favorites, and reviews are awesome.

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After finding out how Snow had become the Evil Queen, instead of his mom, he wanted to find out if in this world Regina and Daniel had a baby. A child that was put in a wardrobe and destined to be the savior. Unfortunately, although the pages of his beloved book had changed to reflect how he changed the past, the last few pages that he had torn out to protect Emma were still missing. For a second he found himself jealous of the idea of Regina having a child in this version of reality. He pushed it out of his head but he was unable to sleep. Curiosity prompted Henry to read a few more stories that did nothing to ease his mind, in fact it only caused him more anxiousness. Apparently the seven dwarves he knew had been killed by King George while trying to rescue Grumpy, Princess Abigail had never been reunited with her true love Fredrick, and perhaps the one that hurt him the most was the story where the Big Bad Wolf had been killed and by Snow of all people.

Eventually he fell into a restless sleep filled with nightmares of the deaths of his friends. When he awoke the next morning he knew he had to find Regina, or whatever she was going by now, and break the new curse. Even if this world did have another version of Emma and himself he didn't have time to wait. This time his other mother would have to be the savior.

He ran toward Mifflin Street. There stood the same white house with green shutters just like it always had. He still had his keys and was grateful that this new curse hadn't changed the locks. Upon walking inside however he realized, like everything else in the town, although it was the same on the outside the interior was different. Not completely different, though, just little things, like where previously sat a statue of a horse there now sat a ceramic bird and the bowls usually filled with apples now held pears.

"Mom!" He called out but received no answer. "Regina… er whatever your name is here, are you home?"

It took the kid a minute but then it hit him. His mom hadn't cast the curse, this time Snow White did which meant she was mayor here, and if she lived here that probably meant Regina lived in Snow's old apartment.

He hurried out of the mayoral mansion and began walking the familiar path to Mary Mar… or now his mom's apartment. When he looked at the mail slots at the bottom of the building his confirmed there was no Mary Margaret there so the name in its place must belong to his mom. Figuring it now was as good a time as any Henry climbed the stairs and knocked on the door.

"Can I help you? The woman asked.

"Are you Virginia Regan?"

"Yes." She looked at the boy with confusion "Who are you?"

"My name's Henry. I'm your son."

The woman stood silently not quite sure how to respond to his claim. Then after a minute figured it must be a joke and laughed. "Did one of my students put you up to this?"

"This is no joke," He replied causally and invited himself inside. "Hey, you have any juice? Never mind, found some."

Henry grabbed a jug of apple juice and poured himself a glass as the cursed version of his mother followed him cautiously trying to figure out what was happening.

"Look, you seem like…" Virginia bit her bottom lip. "Well truthfully you seem like a very strange little boy and I have to leave for work, I'm a teacher and–"

"Let me guess." Henry cut her off. "You're making birdhouses today?"

"No actually we're doing a project growing plants from seeds."

"Oh…" The answer surprised Henry but after thinking about it that made sense, Snow's thing had been birds, and his mom's was apples.

"So, really I must be going." She ushered the boy out the door.

"Ok, I'll just have to walk with you then." He shrugged and followed after her.

On the way down the street Henry talked the woman's ear off about the first curse and that he'd gone back in time to try to fix it but this time Snow had cast the curse and now it was their job to break it.

"You really have quite an imagination." Virginia tried to placate him. "Perhaps you could be a writer."

"It's not my imagination, its true you just can't remember who you are."

Virginia saw the town therapist, Mr. Hopper, walking his dog Pongo, "Alright, if everyone here is fairytale character who's he supposed to be?"

"Jiminy Cricket." Henry replied matter-of-factly.

"Right, because he helps people if they're having an issue with their conscience. Well, I guess I have to believe you otherwise your nose would be growing." She responded, her tone affectionate, yet clearly patronizing.

"I'm not Pinocchio!" Henry let out an exasperated sigh.

"Course you're not. Because that would be ridiculous." She tried not to laugh.

They continued walking but stopped suddenly when the patrol screeched to a halt in front of them.

"Leo!" Before he knew what was happening Henry found himself in a bone-crushing hug. "I was so worried about you."

When he was abled to see the face of the woman hugging him so fiercely he gasped. It wasn't exactly Mary Margaret but it wasn't Snow White either. Henry couldn't seem to find words and the two women began to speak as if he wasn't there.

"I'm so sorry Mayor White, if I'd known who he was I would have brought him straight over… I wasn't even aware you had a son."

"No, its alright. We just adopted him yesterday and then when he ran off and didn't come home I was so worried. When I read the case history it just kept saying how bright he was but he had a slightly overactive imagination…" The Mayor paused and laughed at herself seeming somewhat embarrassed "Why am I even telling you all this."

"Its quiet alright." Virginia smiled politely. "He was just telling me how everyone here is a character from fairytales."

"I'm sorry?" She tilted her head to the side.

"Its nothing forget I said it." Virginia apologized. "I should really be getting to school."

"Of course," The mayor nodded then turned to Henry. "Come on Leo."

"My name is Henry." He mumbled to himself with a furrowed brow.

He glanced once toward Regina walking away from him but other than that he made no objections to being escorted away. It hurt to have his mom just walk away from him, it was something he'd never experienced before, in the past it had always been he who had walked away from her and now he felt guilty for that. Henry wanted to run back to Regina and apologize for all the things she couldn't remember but he continued to follow this cursed version of Snow White.

As he sat in the back of the patrol car with the woman pretending to be his mother, who in another reality should be his grandmother, he began to get a headache. He'd always thought he had a confusing family tree but this was just too much. He was trying to figure out why Snow White was claiming that he was her son and why she was calling him Leo. If the pattern of events was mirroring the way things had actually happened it made since, he had in fact been adopted by the Mayor of Storybrooke and was named for his adoptive mother's father who in this world was Leopold. The problem with that theory however, was in this world he didn't exist. The pages in the book that would have mentioned the savior were missing and even if there was a savior, it wouldn't have been Emma since Snow White and Prince Charming never had a daughter because Snow had killed him. So with no Emma there was no him.

"Leo, I know the transition can be difficult from foster home to forever family, but that's how I want you to see this. You're going to be here with me, forever." It was said with a sweetness that did very little to lessen the threatening tone.

"I'm not afraid of you." Henry glared. "Good always defeats evil and in this world you're not good."

"It hurts me that you would say that," She replied sternly then just shook her head looking defeated. "Now why don't you unpack some of your things, you start school tomorrow."

He gave her one more suspicious look before walking up to the stairs. Out of habit Henry walked into his old room where he was surprised to find a bunch of stuff clearly intended for a boy his age. He thought about what the different possibilities were.

Option 1) Snow White really didn't know what was going on and the curse had given her some fake memories to explain his existence here.

Option 2) Snow White did know what was happening and knew that he could ruin it for her so she was trying to make him look crazy.

Option 3) He really was just crazy kid named Leo.

Henry strongly doubted it was option one since when Regina had cast the curse she'd been able to remember her real life, so option two was the more likely one but that didn't worried him nearly as much as option three.

The idea that he was crazy was not a new feeling to him. It was a fear that had haunted him everyday since his mother had first started sending him to Archie. If he was honest with himself it was the real reason he'd always been mad at his mom. Regina had made him feel crazy for believing something that turned out to be true. A small part of him had wished he was just crazy, because he thought if he could give up the idea of fairytales than his mom would love him like she had before he'd ever gotten that book and found out the truth.

Of course all that hope turned to anger when Emma came and began to prove that he was right all along, and so he held it against his mom for making him feel crazy. For making him feel different. For making feel ashamed.

So this time Henry wouldn't doubt himself, he would find a way to break this curse, he'd fix the mistake. To do that though, he'd need help, and without Emma his other mother would have to be the savior now.

Henry looked around the room and frowned missing the nearly twenty clocks he had in there. The clock on the tower said 8:15 just like it had until Emma had decided to stay. Much was different in this new cursed Storybrooke but still much was the same, and since his room had not changed he knew exactly how to escape.

Before he went to his final destination Henry had to do a little bit of recon around town now that he had a better idea of what was going on. He stopped at Granny's, and the hospital and did some spying on Gold as well so he'd have enough information to get started on Operation Cobra 2.0. The last place he went to was the school. It hadn't changed a bit and as the bell rung he walked down the halls trying to avoid the students rushing to get home.

Unsurprisingly the classroom that had once said Miss Blanchard now said Miss Regan and when he opened the door he saw his mom colleting her things getting ready to leave.

"Leo!" She gasped dropping her things when she realized she was being watched. "What are you doing here?"

"My name is Henry," He insisted. "And I want to apologize –"

"Its ok I'm sure adjusting to a new town can be difficult –"

"It's not that. When I went back in time it was because I thought you were evil," Henry admitted shamefully. "But then I met you and I realized I was wrong so I tried to make it better but things just got worse. Snow White became the Evil Queen so now its up to us to fix it."

Virginia ran her hand through Henry's hair smiling at him. "Did you know in Grimm's original story when Snow White became Queen she invited her stepmother to her wedding and when she arrived Snow had her guards put hot-iron shoes on the woman's feet and she danced until she died?" Henry shook his head no. "Well it's true, so I can understand you thinking that Snow White became the Evil Queen but it's not real. People can't travel in time and fairytale are just that, tales, legends, stories, things we tell children to teach them lessons and sometimes give them hope."

Henry sighed, Emma had been hard to convince too. "It's ok, you just need time."

"Come on, let's get you back to your mom."

Henry sighed again but followed, "Fine just promise me one thing. Promise you'll come to the hospital after school tomorrow. Please."

"I can't make that promise." She shook her head. Virginia Regan did not make promises lightly.

The two walked in silence the rest of the way to Mifflin Street. Virginia wasn't entirely sure why she had bothered to walk him the whole way back. Clearly he was capable of finding his way around town. She told herself it was because she wanted to make sure he didn't wander off again but the truth was she felt inexplicably drawn to this boy who had shown up at her door this morning.

When they reached the mayoral mansion its owner walked out with with a fierce look.

"Leo, this is enough, straight to your room and no more talk of curses." His faux mother directed him.

Henry scowled and marched up to he room, but then his scowl turned into a smirk. He hadn't mentioned a curse, true his mom had said he believed everyone in town was really a fairytale character so curses weren't a far leap, but still it was enough of a confirmation for him that Snow White remembered. Henry didn't know what Snow and Regina had been talking about but when he got to his room and looked out the window he saw the hands on the clock tower moving. He smiled, tomorrow when he went to the hospital after school his mom would be there, and they'd start fixing this.

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A/N So yeah most of you figured out since Snow and Regina's fairytale lives had been switched then their Storybrooke lives would be as well. It wasn't like it supposed to be a big surprise but please forgive Henry for not picking up on it as fast. Its more complicated for him since he's living it. Anywho this was the last of what I'd had written I mean I know where the story is going but there are no words to paper so to speak. I'll still try to have timely update but unfortunately real life likes to interfere with writing.


	6. The Story Of The Dwarves

A/N While this isn't exactly an update I had this little drabble written to help me with my timeline of what happened after Henry changed the past. So since I'm still working on the proper chapter 5 I figured I might as well post this. I have a few others that I may post in-between chapters if its taking me awhile to update.

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Once upon a time there were eight dwarf bothers that all lived together and worked in the mines collecting diamond to make fairy dust. The brothers' names were Bashful, Doc, Dopey, Dreamy, Happy, Sleepy, Sneesy and Stealthy, and as you know, dwarves' true names appeared on the handles of their axes the moment they first hold them. For a long time these eight brothers worked joyously in the mines never giving a thought to anything else the world might offer.

Dreamy was the first to rock the proverbial boat, when he fell in love with a fairy. His brothers of course were supportive because they were his brothers and the other seven dwarves needed no more reason than that to encourage him and wish for his happiness. They all knew something bad had happened though the day he became Grumpy. It was unprecedented for a dwarf's name to change, but still he was their brother. When Grumpy was accused of stealing a diamond from the mine his brothers knew it was not true.

They formed a plan to break him free from King George's prison. Bossy the leader at diamond mines told them not to go, that the world was no place for dwarves and they belong near the mines. The seven dwarves could not turn their back on Grumpy though and left to save him.

It was a simple plan, Stealthy as his name suggested would be the best suited to sneak in and break Grumpy out from whatever jail keep him prisoner. It then fell to Doc, the cleverer of the brothers, to figure out a way to neutralize the guards. The others were supposed to wait in the forest until Stealthy could return with Grumpy.

"You ready to go home?" The sneaky dwarf asked as he appeared from the shadows in front of his brother's cell.

"Stealthy!" Grumpy jumped to his feet. "How'd you get in here?"

"Doc whipped up some sleeping gas, it knocked all the guards out cold. The rest are waiting with transport." Stealthy explained.

"Well then, what are we waiting for?" Grumpy shook at the bars anxiously. "Come on, let's go!"

Stealthy chuckled at his brother and unlocked the door. The two dwarves made their way through the dark halls of the dungeon swiftly and made it half way through the courtyard when they noticed the guards beginning to wake.

"Halt! Those two are prisoners." One of the king's guards yelled.

"Grumpy, run! We can make it!" Stealthy sprinted to cover but when he looked behind him he saw an arrow striking his brother's chest.

"Men, search the surrounding forest! Dwarves are like ants, if you see one there's probably more close by." The captain of the guards told his troops.

Stealthy ran to try and reach his remaining brothers but he couldn't make it there fast enough and arrived in time to watch King George's men execute his fellow dwarves as traitors to the crown.

The walk back to the mines seemed to take an eternity. He didn't even try to hide from the guards when he first left the castle grounds, but no one pursued him. As he made his way through the forrest he considered running away in shame trying to start a new life but he was a dwarf and he knew dwarves only had one purpose, to work in the mines.

Stealthy returned to the mines alone and defeated taking his place in the tunnel. Bossy walked up him a placed a hand on the other dwarf's shoulder.

"I did try to warn you, about what happens when dwarves leave the mines."

"Where's my axe" Stealthy growled not wanting to talk to the older dwarf.

Bossy handed him his axe and Stealthy began to strike away at the rocks. So furious were his swings, that dwarves from other tunnels made their way to investigate. Before long the handle of his axe broke and every dwarf watching gasped in shock for a dwarf's axe shouldn't break. It had only happened once before so they knew what was coming.

"Bossy, hand me another axe." Stealthy demanded.

The other dwarf ran quickly to retrieve another axe then handed it over nervously. "Here you are, Stealthy…"

The moment the dwarf took the axe his new name began to form on its handle.

"It's Vengeful now." The dwarf accepted his new name, planning to get revenge on King George for killing his brothers if it was the last thing he did.

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So my thought behind this was that if Stealthy and Grumpy weren't helping Snow escape than the would have been out to the courtyard quicker hence Grumpy would have been the one shot instead. Also had Snow not been there to bargain with the guards for Grumpy's life King George's men would have hunted the other dwarves down. Also just my head canon is that Bossy was the one to rat out Grumpy to King George about the diamond because Bossy had been trying to work with the Blue Fairy to prevent Grumpy from going after Nova. So when Grumpy eventually changed his mind and wanted to try to get Nova back Bossy decided to set him up to try to get rid of him and show the other dwarves that wanting a life outside the mines doesn't end well. Therefore my head canon for this is also that Bossy tipped off King George about the break out attempt.


	7. Chapter 5

He learned by looking at her mail Snow went by Mary here but had kept the last name White. Henry guessed, even to a cursed town, having a mayor named Snow might seem a little off. Mary had insisted on walking him to school on his first day, she had said that it was because she wanted to make sure he got settled but really Henry figured it was just to keep an eye on him.

"Morning Madame Mayor," Archie greeted them. "Who do you have here?"

"This is Leo, my son." Mary introduced him. "He may be coming to see you soon. Leo, say hello to Dr. Hopper."

Henry refrained from correcting his name but couldn't help but be a little rebellious. "Hello Jiminy I mean Dr. Hopper."

His smug smile was met with a scowl from Snow. Archie didn't seem to notice however as he was now mesmerized by the clock tower.

"Hey, how about that? Guess those rusty ol' innards finally straightened themselves out, huh?"

Mayor White continued to stare at Henry as she responded, "Yes, how about that, indeed."

The rest of the walk to the school was made in silence. When they arrived Snow went in to talk to the principle leaving Henry to sit in the hall.

"Nicolas, Ava, hey." Henry greeted his former friends.

The twins looked at him suspiciously. Henry didn't have to have any kind of superpower to tell that they were looking down on him. It annoyed Henry since when they had first met the two had framed him for shoplifting.

"Who are you?" Ava finally asked.

"I'm –"

Before he could respond fully Mary White had stepped out of the office and the twins' demeanor completely changed. Suddenly they seemed much more pleasant but it was fake.

"Hello Mayor!" They greeted her.

"Children," Mary greeted them with an equally fake friendly smile.

"You guys know each other?" Henry asked disbelievingly.

"Of course, these children did me a favor once, and since then I've done business with their father," Mary stated.

"He owns Storybrooke car dealership." Nicolas said arrogantly.

Henry just rolled his eyes in response, what did he care, the that time he saw there dad in his world the guy was a mechanic. What was actually interested about was whatever favor the mayor was talking about because Henry had a feeling it was something they'd done in fairytale world.

"Now why don't you take Leo with you, I believe he's going to be in your class."

Mary pushed Henry toward the twins who began to pull him down the hall with more force than necessary.

He realized he should be used to it by now, finding out that things here were different. Here, the buildings, the people, they looked the same but for all intensive purposes these people were strangers, he didn't really know them and they certainly didn't know him. When the world had been cursed at least he had grown up with them, they may not have been his friends exactly but they were familiar.

He fiddled with the straps on his backpack feeling a little worried. As he walked into class the nervousness intensified. He didn't recognize the woman who was his teacher and he wondered if it was because he hadn't paid enough attention or if she had been someone else before. He had no interest in the lesson, and spent most of the day staring out the window waiting for school to be over, not unlike a typical eleven-year-old boy would do. When class was finally finished Henry tried to bolt for the door but his new friends stopped him.

"Leo, where are you going so quickly?" Ava asked with fake sweetness.

"Nowhere." Henry replied evasively.

"Then why don't you hang out with us as Granny's?" She suggested.

"Yeah, Granny's," Nicolas agreed. "I'm in the mood for something sweet."

"You always want something sweet." Ava rolled her eyes.

The three of them walked down the street and the twins either didn't notice or care about Henry's fidgetiness. It felt odd going to Granny's without Ruby being there. There had been days of course when Ruby hadn't been at the diner when he'd come in but in this world she wasn't taking a day off, she was dead. The waitress who approached the table was dressed similar to had Ruby had before Emma had come to town, but Henry didn't recognize her.

"What can I get you kids?" She asked.

"I'll have-"

"Who are you?" Henry interrupted.

"Name's Lacey, are you three ready to order or not? The waitress spoke impatiently.

The three children placed their orders and Nicolas and Eva began speaking to each other only paying enough attention to Henry to make sure he didn't run off. Once the milkshakes arrived Henry felt like the twins were distracted enough he scooted out of the booth.

"I just umm, gotta go to the bathroom, excuse me." He spoke quietly.

This wasn't the first time he'd snuck away from the diner, he knew he'd have to move quickly too, for some reason Nicolas and Ava were in league with the Evil Queen and once they'd realized he was gone he had a feeling Graham would be on the look out for him too. As he walked down the street toward the hospital he thought Operation Cobra 2.0 is officially a go, he just hoped his mom was still there.

"You're still here." Henry sighed with relief when he saw Regina.

"Yes, and you were making me feel quite foolish about it too," She gave him a teasing smile. "But you're here now. So why are we here."

When Henry was doing his recon the day before he'd stopped at the hospital thinking that if Snow and Regina had switched than maybe Daniel and David had been too. He had been right but like instead of a coma, Daniel was awake and had the ability to move about but had been describes as catatonic. Henry hoped that the same tactic Snow had used on David would work for Regina and Daniel.

"Come on, I'll show you," Henry began walking toward where he'd seen Daniel the day before.

The moment Regina saw Daniel, Henry thought the curse might have been broken from the look on his mother's face. She stood with her mouth hanging open just a little bit, there was shock, but something else as well.

"Who is this?" She asked. Henry bit his bottom lip and scrunched up his face not sure if she was ready to hear. "Come on, I'm here aren't I? Have a little faith."

Henry nodded and pulled out his book. "That's Daniel and he's your true love. I think if you read him your story he might wake up."

"Oh…" Virginia wasn't sure what she was expecting but it wasn't that. It made since though if this boy was so invested in fairytales then obviously he must believe in true love as well. She looked at Daniel and couldn't stop a blush from creeping into her cheeks, Daniel was handsome after all, she frowned though when she stopped to wonder what had happened to put him in this state. She turned her attention back to the boy standing next to her looking up at her, his eyes full of hope.

"Please," he held out the book to her. "Try."

"Ok… I'll try but this doesn't mean I believe what you're saying." She finally agreed.

"That's ok," He smirked confidently. "I know you can get your happily ever after this time."

"Now Leo-"

"Henry." He corrected.

"Look, I know you want to believe in magic, true love and happy endings and that's great, but sometimes life just doesn't work that way. Sometimes bad things happen to people and you can't fix them. Not having a happy ending is painful its true," She swallowed. "But... giving someone unrealistic hope is far worse and I don't want to do that to you."

Henry nodded not able to bring himself to speak. Emma had said almost the exact same thing to him when he was trying to get Snow White to wake up Prince Charming the first time around. It was odd for him to think about how similar his two mothers were. Sure they still had differences but there were moments like now when he could see them being friends, it was after all Emma who had been the one willing to defend Regina.

Henry was about to leave when Virginia spoke again.

"Well if I'm going to do this, you have to stick around." She smiled at the boy.

A small smile began to form again on Henry's face, as he followed his mom to where Daniel seemed to be staring out the window. The kid pulled up a chair and listened to the story.

"Once upon a time…" Virginia began.

_"Regina dear, you are not to leave the estate while we're gone." Cora Mills reminded her daughter._

_"Mother please," The young girl begged. "At least let me have access to Rocinante."_

_Cora sneered at the mention of her daughter's horse, while she had agreed to riding lessons for her daughter, Cora had always hoped Regina would acquire some more delicate interests. "Dear, I don't like you riding alone. This would be a good time to practice needlepoint."_

_Regina made an unhappy frown and her mother grabbed her by the chin with more force than would have been expected by the look on Cora's face._

_"Sweetheart, we're looking for an appropriate suitor, a prince, for you to marry." _

_"Mamma what if I don't want to marry a prince?"_

_"Don't be silly of course you do."_

_"I'm fifteen years old and I've never done anything for myself, I don't have any friends –"_

_"Friends are overrated"_

_"-and when I marry I want it to be for love."_

_"My darling girl," Cora caressed her daughter's cheek. "Love is weakness now enough of this nonsense -"_

_"But-" Regina interrupted and looked to her father to help._

_"Cora dear perhaps…" The girl's father who had been silent the entire time finally spoke. Or at least tired to, Cora cut him off with a glare. _

_"Henry, can you give us a minute."_

_Cora didn't bother to look at her husband as she spoke. Henry pursed his lips and Regina thought for a moment that her father was going to come to her aid but he merely sighed and stepped into the carriage. _

_"Mother all I want –" Before she could finish her sentence she was lifted into the air by magic._

_"Regina I said enough of this nonsense." Cora's voice was cold and unwavering._

_"I'm sorry," The young woman began to tear up. "Please I'll be good."_

_"That's all I wanted to hear." The witch released the magically hold on her daughter. Cora reached out to Regina but her daughter turned and ran to her room._

_Unbeknownst to the two women the exchange had been witnessed by the family's stable boy. The young man Daniel had often watched arguments such as these over the years between mother and daughter. As soon as the carriage was on its way off the grounds Daniel went into the main house and went up to Regina's room._

_"Milady?" Daniel knocked on the door._

_"I do not have a riding lesson today." Regina's voice came from the other side of the door, she tried to hide the fact she'd been crying but Daniel knew better, he also knew better than to argue with her._

_"Well, some of the servants are having a small party in the kitchen this evening if you'd like to come." Daniel didn't wait for a response._

_Regina released the pillow she'd been hugging tightly and crept to the door to watch the stable boy walk down the hall._

_That night Regina turned around and walked back to her room three times before making it down to the kitchens. She could hear the servants laughing and carrying on and she was jealous. _

_"Sorry I'm late." She gave a curtsey as she entered. _

_Everyone stopped their celebrating and stared._

_"Miss Mills…" The cook spoke nervously. "You shouldn't be here…"_

_"I invited her." Daniel came into the room._

_The tension seemed to ease a bit once the stable boy had assured them that she had joined them as a guest and not a spy for Cora but still Regina could feel how much of an outsider she was. At first Regina attempted to socialize but she had nothing in common with them so she resigned herself to sitting alone in the corner with a fake smile on her face trying to pretend she was having a good time. Suddenly a plate with a slice of cake appeared next to Regina. _

_"Cake?" Daniel offered._

_"I'm fine, thank you." She smiled politely then looked away. "Besides, Mother doesn't approve of sweets."_

_"Oh well alright." Daniel stood awkwardly for a moment then started to walk back over to the others._

_"Wait," Regina reached out to stop him. "Thank you."_

_Daniel turned and smiled, "No problem… for what?"_

_"For… inviting me." Regina answered nervously and her eyes shifted downward. "It was nice of you even if nobody really wants me here."_

_"That not true, I mean, I wanted you here." Daniel offered._

_"Well.. thank you... again, but I think they'd be happier if I just went back to her room."_

_She began to leave and this time Daniel reached out to stop her. "Hey, they just don't know you –"_

_"Oh and you do." Regina snapped defensively._

_"I didn't say that, but I'd like to… get to know you that is." Daniel nervously rubbed the back of his neck with a shrug._

_"I think I'd like that too." Regina admitted._

_Daniel leaned forward and kissed the girl on the cheek. Regina bit her bottom lip and blushed furiously. She didn't speak as she left the party but her dreamy smile said it all. Regina was in love."_

Virginia stopped reading as a hand reached out and grabbed her own.

"Daniel?" Virginia asked hesitantly. "Is that you?"

She felt foolish asking the question, it was just a story from a child's book. This man couldn't be Daniel, and yet… the man who had been catatonic now seemed to be aware the glassy look in his was gone. Just as the John Doe looked like he was about to speak Virginia got up to leave.

"I'm sorry this is too strange." She handed the book back to Henry. "I have to go."

"Wait!" Henry called after her but she was already out the door. He then turned back to Daniel. "Don't worry we'll figure this out."

Putting his book back in his bag Henry ran toward Mifflin street. Part of is was out od habit and the other was that he had nowhere else to go. If Snow was going to pretend to be his mom then he'd play along if it meant a roof over his head.

"I heard you abandoned your friends at Granny's today." Snow spoke from the living room.

"They're not my friends." Henry replied shortly.

"Still best not to go wandering off in a new town something bad might happen."

It sounded like something his mother would say back before the curse was broken but while he'd never doubted Regina was the Evil Queen he also knew his mother would never hurt him. Henry didn't know about this woman though, she was a stranger and he was afraid.


	8. Chapter 6

Sorry for the wait, I've been in the process of moving down to FL and then there was the SQ incident at SDCC that sort of depressed me and stole my motivation but any who I'm back. This chapter is shorter than most of the previous ones, I think I'll just be shorter chapters from now on so I can update more frequently. Thanks again to all of you who are sticking with me for this story.

* * *

"I'm home!" A familiar male voice called from downstairs.

Henry cautiously crept out of his room where he'd been hiding since Snow had threatened him the night before. He figured he would have to approach things differently than when he'd broken the curse with Emma and had spent the previous night trying to come up with a plan. When he'd made it half way down the stairs he froze.

"David?" Henry looked on confused. It couldn't be, David was dead and it had been Snow that had killed him, that's what his book said.

"Well, I'd prefer you calling me dad, but we can work on that." He chuckled.

The boy was so taken aback he allowed this man, who was an exact replica of Prince Charming, to ruffle his hair.

"Sorry I couldn't be here on your first nights, working late."

"Working late?" Henry replied dumbly.

"Yes dear," Mary stepped over and put her hand on David's shoulder proudly. "David here is a lawyer, his father is the District Attorney..."

Henry wasn't listening anymore as he tried to figure out what was going on. It had to mean David had a brother, a twin. Not for the first time that day did Henry wish his book contained the whole story instead of just fragments. If it had then he probably wouldn't be in this situation to begin with.

"…Yeah, we're actually pretty busy with a case so I just stopped by to get a change of clothes." David told them.

Henry saw the look on Snow's face, a look of sad acceptance poorly covered by a mask of false happiness. It was a look he recognized from his real mother. David had already gone upstairs to change and Henry just watched as Mary White busied herself in the kitchen.

"Hey, kiddo why don't I drive you to school and we can grab something at Granny's." David offered as he came back down the stairs.

"Why don't you two have breakfast here?" Snow asked and Henry almost felt bad for her.

During the drive Henry studied this David trying to figure out if he knew about the curse or not. After dropping a few fairytale names and receiving no worried look Henry guessed whoever he was, was indeed cursed. When they were right in front of Granny's David got a call on his cell.

"Sorry sport got to head over to the office now, you can walk from here right?" He asked once he was through with the call.

"Sure," Henry nodded.

David then handed him twenty bucks, "Alright get some breakfast and then straight to school."

Henry had to force himself not to roll his eyes before turning and heading into Granny's. He ordered a hot chocolate with cinnamon and frowned went it arrived. What was he doing here, he asked himself. Sitting at Granny's with a cup of cocoa wasn't going to break any curses. With out even taking a sip he paid for it and began walking toward school. Before he'd made it inside he saw his mother walking up to the building and raced over to meet her.

"Hey! So I know Daniel didn't wake up on the first try but I thought maybe we could try again. Snow had to kiss David to wake him up and-"

"Leo, enough!" Virginia spoke harshly. Henry froze. "There is no curse, this is just some silly fantasy. You need to grow up and leave this nonsense behind."

"But mom-"

"You're not my son!" She nearly shouted.

He knew Virginia wasn't his mother, not really, but the words cut deeply. He steeled his face against the tears that were threating to fall and ran. He was like both of his mothers that respect, running away from his problems like Emma, and attempting to hide his emotions like Regina. He could hear Virginia call after him but could also tell she was making no move to follow.

Henry ran all the way to the well without stopping. He didn't know why he decided to run there, perhaps it was because that was where for a moment it seemed like everything could turn out okay. Regina had managed to save Emma and Snow from the death curse and he believed she really had changed but then Cora showed up and convinced everyone that Regina had killed Archie. He felt guilty, if he'd believed in her more maybe he wouldn't be in the situation he was now.

"Boy why are you crying?" A girl's voice asked him.

"I wasn't crying," He answered defensively then looked up and realized he recognized the girl. "Paige?"

"Wow, that was a good guess." She giggled. "What's your name?"

"Henry." He said with determination that earned a strange look from Paige.

"Okay Henry, what brought you out her to not cry." She teased him.

"You wouldn't believe me."

"You'd be surprised, my father used to tell me the strangest stories."

Henry knitted his brows taking in this information. He couldn't be sure, but he remembered that when Emma had met Jefferson she'd asked to borrow his book, meeting him had helped Emma start to believe in the curse. Henry guessed that Jefferson had never forgot his true self, perhaps it was due to his time spent jumping between worlds but it didn't really matter what mattered was that maybe he remembered here as well. So hoping that his suspicions were correct Henry told Paige everything.

Once he'd finished his story of fairytales and time travel, Paige did not laugh, did not judge just nodded. "Do you really believe it?"

"I know its true." Henry said resolutely. "Do you think your father could help?"

"My father?"

"You said he told stories, stories like the one I told?" He hopped.

"Yes… he used to…" Paige frowned. "That was before he disappeared."

Henry joined in her frown, "Disappeared…" he repeated. "When did he disappear?"

If possible Paige's frown intensified, "I don't remember… its been such a long time."

A sigh revealed Henry's evident disappoint though he wanted to hide it. This wasn't Paige's fault, it was his, he'd tried to change the past and only manage to get the town cursed again and this time there was no savior in sight.

Paige walked with Henry to the edge of town before waving goodbye. She told him she lived in the woods and Henry could understand why, in the pervious cursed version of Storybrooke when his mom had found the orphans Hansel and Gretel she had tried to ship them off to Boston. Henry knew if anyone tried to leave Storybrooke something bad would happen.

Henry wandered back into town with no real aim. He missed his old life, he missed Emma, and he missed his mom. As if on cue he saw Virginia walking in his direction with a distraught look on her face.

Virginia Regan had trouble focusing on her lesson the entire day, even though it had been one of her favorites. Today they had been learning to grow plants from seeds. The conversation with Leo had been weighing heavily on her heart. There had been no reason for her to yell at the boy, clearly something traumatic had happened to him to make him believe the stories he'd told. Perhaps the hostility also came from the reminder of her desire to have children of her own but the inability to do so. Either way she owed him an apology.

"Leo," She began but saw the anger in his eyes. "Henry, I'm sorry… I shouldn't have snapped at you…will you accept my apology?"

He starred at her, old feeling of distrust and anger welled up inside him, he wondered if this was some kind of trick, but he quickly pushed those feeling away. Henry nodded and ran over to her and wrapped his arms around her waist. This wasn't his mother but she was supposed to be.

For her part Virginia stood there confused by the hug and yet couldn't bear to pull away, instead allowing herself a minute of peace as she rested her chin on the boy's head. As an additional peace offering Virginia invited him to join her for a snack at Granny's. Henry agreed happily and began telling her about Paige and what happened when he'd been trying to break the curse with Emma.

Virginia smiled and nodded as he spoke, Henry could tell she wasn't convince but at least she was listening. The ringing of her phone stopped the story. Henry studied her as she answered it and offered a few murmurs of agreement before hanging up.

"Do you have your storybook with you?" She asked him.

"Yeah, why?" He pulled it from his bag and passed it to her over the table.

"Umm," She swallowed nervously not sure she wanted to tell him for fear it would only add to his belief in fairytales. "The hospital, called it seems the John Doe we visited yesterday has become more lucid. They were wonder if I'd be interested in coming back to read to him again." Immediately Henry's eyes lit up and Virginia bit her lip as she asked nervously as she held up the book. "Can I borrow this?"

"Absolutely!" Henry smiled brightly thrilled that there was finally some forward progress in Operation Cobra 2.0.

"Henry, this doesn't mean anything." Virginia didn't want him to get his hopes up but the boy was ecstatic.

"Whatever you say," Henry grinned madly knowing that by this time tomorrow Daniel would be himself again, and once Daniel remember he could help.


	9. Chapter 7

So glad to see that people are still interested in this story. Thanks to all the readers especially those who've reviewed, followed and/or favorited this story. This chapter starts out at Snow/Mary as the focal character then transitions back to Henry where we left him in the previous chapter.

* * *

When the phone rang and the voice on the other end told her that Leo hadn't shown up for school Snow sneered but was able to lie smoothly enough.

"I'm so sorry I forgot to call," She responded apologetically. "Leo's still having trouble adjusting, still having those delusions."

The school administrator was very understanding and told her they hoped to see Leo back soon.

Snow had to take a deep breath once she'd hung up the phone. This boy was becoming a problem. She had hoped that he could simply be locked away in the psych ward of the hospital as she had done with that fool Jefferson, but she had found out about his arrival in town too late.

There would be complications now if she got rid of him in the wrong way. She could be patient when she needed and ruthless.

_"Rumplestiltskin!" Snow White had come to the Dark One's castle in search on answers. After the imp had given the dethroned queen the dark curse, she had cut out four of her men's hearts in attempt enact the curse but nothing had happened. _

_"Well, well dearie was wondering when you'd show up. It's been nearly four full moons since I gave you that curse and yet here we remain. The components should have been easily enough to collect."_

_Snow sneered. "If its so simply why didn't you cast it."_

_"The heart dearie," The Dark One noticed the twitch of the Evil Queen's face. "The heart must belong to the one you love most, and there is no one here that I love."_

_For a moment Rumplestiltskin's face seemed to soften a moment of regret perhaps. Snow had believed there was something between him and that girl he'd taken to clean his home but one day she had disapeared from his castle._

_The Dark One pushed his feelings aside however and return to his more devious self. "Now go, you know what you love, so go kill it."_

_In a plume of red smoke Snow transported herself back to her own dark castle. With a scowl on her face she walked toward her father's room ignoring the questions posed by her loyal Huntsman. When she'd first seen him upon her return she thought maybe he could be the one, but she knew her feelings toward him were not love._

_"Did Rumplestiltskin tell you what you needed to know?" The ailing former king asked his daughter._

_"Yes." Snow hesitated. "I have to cut out the heart of the thing I love most."_

_"Me?" Leopold nodded._

_"Father, I don't know what to do."_

_"Take it." Leopold said resolutely. "I'm old, I'm sick, I've been sick for years now. I'm ready for this to end."_

_Snow's mouth dropped open. Her father the only one who'd always been there for her, had always promised to give her the world was now going to give it to her. _

_"You can have a new life." He whispered to her._

_"Thank you father."_

Her father was gone now, he couldn't help her, but there was someone in this world who might be able to help her. The curse had erased everyone's memories but the boy's arrival had changed things. Snow knew if the curse was weakening those memories of the past might be resurfacing and the first person who would be affected would be Mr. Gold.

When she reached the pawnshop Snow could tell instantly that Mr. Gold knew who she was and more importantly who he was and by extension what she would need to do to keep the curse intact.

"Well, you're going to have to be quite creative. We both know the repercussions in killing Miss Mills or the boy, if you do the curse will be –"

"The curse will be broken." Snow interrupted annoyed at the reminder that she couldn't easily rid herself of those who could break the curse. "You're the one who designed it, so just fix it."

The Dark One laughed. "This curse was designed long before either of them where even born, and even if I wanted to, I couldn't. Magic… well… magic is in short supply around here and dwindling by the minute."

"You want the curse broken." She realized and sneered in contempt but said nothing else. Rumplestiltskin would pay for this betrayal but first she had to deal with the boy and while perhaps unintentional as it was he had given her an idea. With one last look of distain Snow began to take her leave.

Mr. Gold smirked pleased to have got under his one time apprentice's skin, "I will give you a piece of advice before you go, free of charge. Soon enough, I'll be setting out on a little trip and I suggest you do the same, because, once people remember who you are and what you did to them… They are going to be looking for blood."

The Mayor of Storybrooke cringed, she knew it was true, if the curse did break and she didn't have magic to protect her she'd be in trouble. It didn't matter though, she had something she'd saved from the old world, something she'd never found the occasion to use once those twins had got it for her.

All she had to do was get it from the mausoleum.

Snow walked down the street and saw the boy, the one she'd called Leo. She had hoped naming him after her father would help her feel something for him but there was nothing. She had been warned that enacting the curse would take a toll, a void she could never fill. At the time she had welcomed the idea perhaps if she couldn't love than guilt wouldn't gnaw at her either because she had done some truly horrible things as The Evil Queen.

Henry didn't realize he was being watched as he exited Granny's Diner. He wanted to go with his mom when she tried to read to Daniel again but she told him to go home for now. Henry reluctantly agreed to let Virginia go to the hospital alone as long as she promised to go.

"Tomorrow, I'll go first thing in the morning."

"Fine." He studied her with squinted eyes.

Virginia laughed at the boy. She still didn't believe in fairytales but it would be nice to help that John Doe.

Henry had no interest in returning to the house on Mifflin Street. So, he decided to try to get to know this version of David, who wasn't really David but David's brother. He made his way to the law firm of Spencer and Spencer. He had never noticed the building before but perhaps that was just because of the curse.

"David?" He called as he walked in. "It's umm… it's Leo."

There was no response so Henry snuck further into the office but stopped when he heard an argument.

"If I had known you'd invite company, David I wouldn't have left you alone." An older man's voice could be heard through the cracked door."

"You're the one who hired her." David spoke and gave a look to the brunette sitting next to him.

"This firm is teetering on bankruptcy. We've got a very important case, given to us by the Mayor herself, your wife –"

David waved a dismissive hand paired with a roll of his eyes. "It feels like we've been working on at case forever. Besides, I'm not even interested in Mary, god knows why I even married her in the first place."

Henry frowned from his spot, this curse wasn't fair to anyone. Just as he was planning to sneak away the door opened and Henry stood frozen.

"Who is this?" The man Henry recognized Mary Margaret's trial from the first version of the cursed world glared at him.

David hopped up from where he leaned on the desk, "Meet your new grandson."

The older man grumbled and shot his son a look before leaving the room.

"You're cheating on her?" Henry finally spoke.

Walking up to the boy David tried to explain. "Look sport, Mary and I have been together for a long time now and well, there's just no love there, we don't really belong together."

"So she's your true love?" Henry looked to the woman who was trying to pretend she was busy.

"Who Max?" David chuckled. "She's just a friend, true love it doesn't really exist. Now, I think it would be best though if we kept all this just between us guys, okay?"

Henry nodded but didn't mean it. There may be no happy endings in this world but he was going to fix that.


	10. Chapter 8

"You skipped school." Snow greeted him at the door with crossed arms.

Henry wasn't sure how to respond so he remained silent. Its not that he thought his absence from school would go unnoticed he just didn't think Mayor White would care. Though he should have realized she'd be keeping tabs on him since he was trying to break her curse.

"Leo, look I know we got off on the wrong foot, I don't know where you came from, but I think if you gave it a chance you could be happy here." Snow offered him choice, they didn't have to be enemies, as long as he stopped trying to break her curse.

Henry scrunched up his face trying to figure out her angle, "How can you say that when you're not even happy here."

"What makes you think that?" Snow knelt down to his level, a smile was on her face but it wasn't real no matter how much she lied to herself.

"I know, because there is another version of reality, one where I've seen you happy, one where you have yourtrue love and a daughter. " Henry tried to explain.

"You're lying." She dismissed the idea and her smile faltered.

"Its true." Henry pleaded. "This David doesn't love you but the real one does."

Snow paused to think about what he was saying. The idea of a husband and child was something she'd dreamed about since she was a little girl. The dream though tempting was just that, a dream. She'd made her choice long ago, a choice to give in to the darkness to become the Evil Queen, and evil could not be loved.

"It doesn't matter," Snow finally regained control of her emotions. "It wouldn't be me, I'd be dead and other-Snow would take my place."

"But…" The boy stuttered.

"The moment Graham mentioned a boy wandering about I knew who you were. The Dark One warned me that there were ways to break the curse, he warned me about you. I took care of one solution long ago but you're still a threat, and well, I can't have that."

Any trace of hope or kindness was now gone from Snow's face as she dragged Henry up the stairs and locked him in is room. As soon as he could no longer hear her steps Henry ran over to the window planning to escape like he usually did but when he pulled back the curtains he gasped as he found the windows barred.

He was trapped.

Henry paced around his room he tried to pull the bars off but with no success, he then desperately tried to knock down his door but when Snow came back and open the door he stopped. She didn't have to say anything it was just a look, but it was the look of an evil queen.

When the door had opened Henry could smell the oven heating up and he was genuinely scared that she was going to cook him like the witches in stories. He ran over to the window again and tugged even harder at the metal rods locking him in. Just as he was about to give up hope the sight of something in the bushes got his attention.

"Paige!" He yelled to her once he realized who it was.

The girl snuck closer to the house she was afraid enough by Mayor White but if the stories of Henry and her father were true than she was also an Evil Queen.

"Henry," she called up to him as loudly as she dared once she stood below his window. "I saw some men installing those bars earlier I was worried about you so I decided to come back once they'd gone."

"You gotta help me escape."

"I don't think your hair is long enough for me to climb," Paige teased but Henry could tell she was scared, she may not fully believe in the idea of a cursed town but she believed enough to be afraid.

Henry told Paige to keep an eye on the Mayor and to give him a signal if she left or became distracted enough that Paige could sneak in. Despite her visible unease the young girl nodded and crouch down by the window to keep watch. Eventually Snow entered the study with a book in hand and closed the door behind her. Paige gave a low whistle and Henry tossed down his keys to her so that she could get in and unlock his door from the other side. When Paige disappeared from his sight Henry feared for a moment that she wasn't coming back and his heart felt as though it was going to beat through his chest.

After a few minutes, though it seemed like an eternity, Henry finally watched the doorknob turn and let out a sigh of relief.

"Come on," Paige whispered to him.

Grabbing his bag Henry quickly gave Paige a kiss on her cheek. The two blushed and quickly escaped from the house. When they were far enough away Henry told her they should split up, he didn't want her to get in trouble if she was caught with him.

"Fine," Paige agreed, "just please promise me you'll be safe. I'd hate to have rescued the Prince from the tower only for him to get caught again by the Evil witch."

"I'll try," Henry agreed and began to run off to Virginia's apartment.

As he began to run up the stairs a recognizable voice made him freeze. How stupid can I be, he wondered. He hadn't thought twice about the Mercedes sitting in the street, once again forgetting that his alteration of events had reversed Snow and Regina's roles so the black car belonged to the presiding Mayor.

"I know how much you love apples, so here." Henry could see Mayor White handed the other woman a small brown bag. "Just a small something to say thank you for looking after my son, its been quite a transition."

"Well, thank you." Virginia replied awkwardly.

"Speaking of my son is he here?" Snow stuck her head forward to look around the apartment. Had she looked down the stairs however Henry would have been caught.

"Last time I saw him was at Granny's this afternoon, he told me he was heading home." The schoolteacher frowned.

"Ok, well you enjoy that."

Upon hearing the farewell Henry turned and ran down the steps as quickly as he was able with out making too much noise. The boy held his breath as he hid under the stairs waiting for the mayor to leave. Once he heard the door to the street close he counted to five before letting out a sigh then running back up the stairs to Virginia's apartment.

"Leo," Virginia looked surprised when she opened the door. "You mother was just here, she's worried about you."

"She's only worried about us breaking the curse, that means we must be getting close." Henry had pushing his way into her living space like he'd done on the first day. Seeing his book on the edge of her bed he put it in his bag. "You gotta be more careful with this, there's no telling what she'll do if she knows you have it."

"Leo." She tried to get his attention.

"Hey what's that?" He noticed the package in her hand.

"Just something Mayor White brought me."

"It's the sleeping curse." Henry recognized the turnover as soon as she pulled it from the bag.

"Pardon?" She assumed she hadn't heard him correctly.

"You can't eat that. It's poison."

"What?" Virginia asked.

"It's a trick, you did the same thing to Emma to try to get rid of her."

"Henry, come on. I think she's just nervous about being a mother to you. She came here to thank me for looking out for you. Why would she try to poison me?"

"Because as long as you're alive, you're a threat to the curse."

"You've got to stop thinking like this."

"But it's the truth!"

"Look I'll prove it to you." Virginia began to take a bite of the pastry.

"No!" Henry yelled and grabbed the turnover. He remembered what had happened the last time and realized it had never been about Snow White and Prince Charming so it wasn't about Regina and Daniel. In that moment he knew that his mother just had to kiss him like Emma had and the curse would be broken.

"I'm sorry it had to come to this. I didn't say it enough before, but I love you. You may not believe in the curse… Or in me. But you did once and I just need you to know that I believe in you."

With that thought in mind he took a bite of the turnover. For a moment he saw his mother's face, a look of concern that didn't belong to Virginia Regan but Regina Mills. The look of worry disappeared when the effects of the sleeping curse didn't take over instantly.

Virginia let out a sigh of relief, "Would you like some ice cream with that? And then we can go back to talking about –"

She didn't get to finish as Henry fell to the ground.

"Leo? Leo!" Virginia ran to the boy's side but he didn't stir.

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The end.

Just kidding, though it will probably be a little while till I post again. I'm on my second rewrite of this next chapter. Things get more complicated as I get closer to the end. Thanks again to all the readers out there who have favorited followed and reviewed!


	11. Chapter 9

A/N: As always thanks to all you wonderful readers who are enjoying the story and have taken the time to review. I love seeing all your kind words! So, anywho, since Henry is in his turnover induced coma for this chapter we will be following Virginia/Regina.

*****WARNING***** There is a child's death in this chapter, can't say more than because I don't want to spoil the story, but I thought you should be warned.

* * *

Henry was wheeled into the hospital on a gurney followed closely by Virginia, the doctor, and several nurses. Virginia tried to explain that this had happened because he ate a turnover but the doctor insisted there was no sign of neurotoxins.

"Right now there is no explanation. It's like –"

"Magic." She finished and pulled out the book of fairytales. As she did she was hit by a series of images starting when she first met Henry running through the woods leading up the moment when the curse had engulfed her castle.

"Where is he, where's Leo?" Mary White entered the hospital.

"You!" Regina snarled remembering everything from her life in the enchanted kingdom. She pulled Snow away from the crowd and pinned the other woman against the wall. "You killed my son!"

"Don't be foolish Miss Regan that boy is not your son, you don't have a son."

"My name is Regina." The former queen glare filled with rage as Snow's filled with fear. "And I had a son, you killed him just like you killed his namesake."

_Regina heard the alarm bell sound, she could hear the dwarf Vengeful's calls that it was here. The clouds from the Dark Curse were now visible from the high tower. The Queen could not move though to see the darkness, she was heavily pregnant and the baby had chosen this time to come._

_"Push," The midwife coached the Queen. _

_The labor was painful but swift enough considering, and soon Regina held the young boy in her arms. The child had dark wisps of hair like both his parents but his eyes were a brilliant blue just like his father's, he was perfect._

_"And his name?" The midwife asked._

_With all the worry of the curse Regina and Daniel had not come to a decision on a name, but now Daniel looked at his wife allowing her the final choice. Regina had always thought she'd name her son Henry after her father but there was already a young Henry she had come to associate with her father. Though her travels through the forest she had always kept an hear out for any word on a Henry Swan and then as Queen she had sent men to search for him but with no luck, still she knew he was out there somewhere alive. Then she smiled a sad smile remembering the man who'd died to protect her._

_"David, his name is David."_

_The sound of the alarm bell brought their attention back to the task at hand._

_"We don't have much time my love," Daniel voice was filled with pain. _

_The truth was they would never have enough time. _

_Three months prior Daniel had returned from the Dark One's castle in order to gain any additional information the faeries didn't have. It was a last resort, for everyone knew how dangerous the Dark One was, but Daniel was desperate to protect his wife and unborn child. Rumplestiltskin said that nothing could stop the darkness but he had told Daniel one thing that Blue did not know. He said there would come a time in this new world that Regina would be reunited with her son and though the queen would not recognize him the two would break the curse. _

_Daniel had been hesitant to reveal this information because for Regina to be reunited with their son first she would have to be separated from him. He knew though that he could not keep this secret and when he told her she too considered keeping the child, even knowing that he would be cursed as well at least they may be together. _

_In the end though they had decided to let him go, give the boy his best chance. A chance to return to them saving everyone and more importantly live a life free of the curse._

_"Goodbye my sweet baby boy," Regina kissed her son again before handing him to her husband. _

_As Daniel carried the boy to a magic wardrobe constructed by a man named Geppetto who the Blue fairy had enlisted to help. Regina was not sure what happened next, only moments after Daniel had left the room, even through her emotional and physical exhaustion she registered the sound of fighting and the cries of her husband and son. Regina had no strength left to stand yet still she pulled herself down the hallway. Two men she recognized as Snow's guards lay dead on the ground and she realized she could no longer hear her son's cries._

_For a moment she thought they had succeeded but when she reached the nursery and saw the empty look on Daniel's face she knew. Her eyes shifted to the wardrobe that Geppetto had completed only moments before the warning bell had been rung. Regina wanted to scream but no sound would come out. The Hunstman, who Snow must have freed from the dungeon once she had infiltrated the castle, stood outside the wardrobe door and though she could not see inside she could the drops of blood falling off his sword._

_The Huntsman approached and Regina just sat there awaiting the end. Her son was dead, Daniel though his heart still beat was sitting lifeless, and the curse was moments away._

_"Stop." Snow entered the room just as the blade was about to come down on Regina's head._

_Regina watch the Evil Queen with fear and anger then when Snow's eyes shifted toward the wardrobe Regina snapped, "Don't you dare look at him!"_

_The broken hearted mother lunged at the Snow Queen but the younger woman's pet Huntsman grabbed Regina and held his blade to her neck. _

_"My Queen?" He awaited her order._

_Snow, who had been surprised at the other woman's assault collected herself and told the Huntsman to release the usurper. _

_"In a few moments, she won't remember any of this."_

_"Then why do this! Why kill my son?" Regina yelled._

_A look of guilt flashed across Snow White's face before she became cold again and growled. "Because this is my happy ending."_

Regina remembered that moment like as if it had only happened seconds ago, and in a way it had only been seconds in the life of Regina Mills though she had spent years now as the schoolteacher Virginia Regan. A level of hated Regina had never known filled her heart and in that moment she was ready to kill as she held her hand to Snow's neck.

"You wouldn't, there's no coming back from killing, and you're not capable of that kind of evil." Snow studied the woman pinning her to the wall and thought she tried she couldn't keep the fear out of her voice.

"You have no idea what I'm capable of," Regina growled. "But right now there is a boy in there who needs help, you get one chance to tell me how to save him."

Snow could see that Regina was serious but truthfully she did not know the answer. "I don't know. Magic here is unpredictable. There is one other person in this town who knows about this… Knows about magic."

"The Dark One?" Regina wondered if the curse could have affected such a powerful being.

"Well, here you may know him as Mr. Gold."

Nodding she took one more look at Henry in bed surrounded by the hospital staff then turned back to Snow. "The only reason I'm letting you go is because I have more important things to deal with. So, I suggest you get in your car, and you leave this town. Because if you don't, I will destroy you if it is the last thing I do. Goodbye, Snow White."

Snow did not look at all like the menacing Evil Queen of fairytales and she stood silently. Regina began walking toward the exit planning on finding out was The Dark One could tell her.

"I should have let her die at the execution." Regina practically snarled as she walked out the doors of the hospital.

By the time she reached Gold's shop the anger and rage she had felt over the murder of her son had begun to be overtaken by grief. Grief for little David, and grief for Henry, the boy who had given her a chance at happiness, she knew she couldn't let him down.

"Rumpelshtil- Rumpelshtilshin?" Regina called remembering in their world to summon the Dark One he must be called by name.

"That's not how you say it, dearie." Gold came from around the corner.

Regina was a bit surprised to see that he looked just like a normal man, which he realized she should have known. She must have run into Gold at sometime or another in the years of being cursed but it was all a bit hazy.

"I'm sorry." She apologized nervously. "I… I don't really know what I'm doing."

"That much is clear. Allow me to introduce myself – Rumpelstiltskin. But you can just call me Mr. Gold. And you are Regina Mills of course, I met your husband once, a shame what happened to your boy."

"Don't you talk about him!" Her anger flared again, bitter that if he had wanted to, the Dark One he could have done something to protect their son.

"Oooh," a wicked grin crept on to Gold's face.

"What?"

"Its just a temper like that… you remind me a bit of your mother."

The information was like a punch to the gut, she loved her mother dearly but the idea of being compared to her was something that made her flinch. Cora was a cold woman who used magic to get what she wanted no matter the consequences. If there was one thing she had promised herself, it was that she would never become her mother.

"You knew my mother?" She asked once what Gold said had really sunk in.

"Indeed dearie, who do you think taught her magic?"

"So you can help, this boy Henry, Snow White used some kind of magic against him. There must be something you can do?"

"Alas but there isn't," Gold watched Regina's face fall then before offering her the hope she desired, "at least not without magic. Now I'm sure you've heard of the fabled thing called True Love, the only magic powerful enough to transcend realms and break any curse. Luckily for you, I happen to have bottled some."

"You did?"

"Oh, yes. Quite difficult to find in fact but I managed to create the most powerful potion in all the realm, from a few stands of hair. When I originally conceived the Dark Curse it was to be the child of True Love who would break the curse but then someone came and changed it all."

"Henry." Regina guessed, the boy who appeared out of nowhere and set her on a path to freedom.

Gold smiled again and if possible it was creepier than before, "Now all you have to go is retrieve a little bottle of potion."

All magic came with a price, Regina knew this, it was a lesson every child in her world knew yet still there were times when people ignored the warning, thought they whatever price would be worth it if only magic could get them this one thing. This was one of those times, if Regina could save Henry with a magic potion then so be it.

She stood at the edge of the abandoned mine shaft. Gold had told her of Lake Nostos, whose waters were said to have magical properties that could return something that was lost. At first Regina had asked if the water would deliver the potion to her, the Dark One explained that the potion was indeed kept in the lake but it had a guardian. He'd given her no more information than that and Regina knew there was something he was hiding but like the cost of the magic she just didn't care, and so here she was making her way through the mining tunnels that ran under Storybrooke, with only a flashlight and hope.

When she reached the point where the tunnel let out into a cavern Regina gasped, she couldn't believe that she had really come that far down for the opening to be so large and yet the she was fairly certain one could fit a dragon inside if they wanted to. She worried that perhaps a dragon was the guardian Gold had warned her about, but as she followed the streams of water to their source she knew that whatever the guardian was it was not a dragon.

Regina heard a voice as she neared the shore of an underground lake. She could see a light, possibly from a well, shining down on the center of the lake.

The voice was clearer this time and Regina heard it call "Mama."

"Who's there?" Regina looked around nervously then dropped her flashlight when she saw him.

"Mama!" It was a little boy who looked a lot like Henry, both were about the same height, same build and both had brown hair but whereas Henry's eyes were hazel this child's were blue.

"David?" it came out as a whisper. The child approached her but she recoiled. "It can't be… This an illusion… You died."

"How can I be dead when I'm here." He smiled at her and reached out his hand. "Come on mom, I need your help, we have to break the curse."

Regina couldn't help but allow herself be led by the little boy. A voice in her head screamed at her that this wasn't David, this wasn't her son, but she wanted so badly for it to be true. As she followed him the cave seemed to brighten.

"David," tears began to fall.

"Yes mama, its me." He smiled sweetly. "I knew you'd find me. Together we'll break Snow White's wicked curse and save Daniel and we can be a family."

"What about Henry."

"Don't worried about him, just come with me."

He pulled at her keep following but Regina let his hand slip away. Instantly the cavern, which had begun to seem almost cheerful, reverted to its original gloom. "You're not my son."

"Yes I am, I love you mommy."

"No I know what real love feels like," And she did, the way that Henry had looked at her after they'd met and he told her to run away with Daniel, the look when he'd eaten that turnover, that was the kind of unconditional love she would hope for from her son.

"Well congratulations your majesty, you're the first."

With a laugh the little boy changed and took its true siren form. Regina looked around a realized she was now at the center of the lake but before she could think of a way to escape the siren grabbed her by the wrists and pulled her below the surface. The creature dragged Regina until they reached the bottom of the lake. Feeling helpless Regina strained her eyes to see through the murky water hoping to spot something that could help her, and then she saw it, a large golden egg shaped case. According to Gold the potion was inside that egg.

With renewed hope Regina bit the hand of the siren that was holding her down and swam as fast as she could to the gold container. Her lungs burned and once the siren got over the shock of being bit she quickly caught Regina again. Unfortunately for the siren this time Regina was in arms reach of a dagger, which she grabbed and plunged into the creature's heart.

Blood began to fill the water and Regina kicked off the lake floor sending her back up to the surface just as her air was running out. Regina allowed herself a moment to catch her breath before swimming back down to retrieve the gold egg. Once she surfaced again she quickly made her way to the shore feeling that she had already wasted to much time. The dagger Regina had salvaged bore the mark of King Midas, she thought, as she tucked it into her belt, it may have belong to his daughter. Regina had heard the sad story of the Princess who had searched for a way to remove an enchantment that had been placed on her love, only to disappear herself. It was a tragic tale but Regina had no time to dwell on it she had to get the potion to the Dark One and hope there was still a chance for Henry.

"Did you get it?" Gold was waiting for her when Regina reached the mouth of the mines.

"Here," She handed it to him.

Gold looked at the container a bit nervously. "I've got this, why don't you get back to your boy."

Regina nodded, she didn't really trust the Dark One but what choice did she have?

Only a few minutes before she would have reached the hospital a horrible pain shot through her heart. It was Henry, something was wrong, she could feel it. Running in to the hospital she froze, the doctor was there talking to one of the nurses and a woman Regina recognized as the Blue Fairy in human form.

"Have you reached his mother?" He asked the nurse who shook her head no.

"Henry!" Regina ran into the room.

"Miss Regan you can't be here." The doctor tried to pull her away.

Hearing her cursed name reminded her where she was. "Please, please let me just say goodbye."

The three other people exchanged glanced then nodded.

"I'm so sorry for what's happened." Tears streamed down Regina's face. "You put your faith in me and I failed. I love you, Henry."

Regina leaned down a placed a kiss on Henry's forehead. Suddenly a pulsed of white light shot out and Henry woke up with a gasp.

"I love you, too." Henry wrapped his arms around her waist. "I knew you'd saved me."

"Henry… What's going on?" Regina asked still a little confused.

"The curse, you broke it."

"That was true love's kiss." The Blue Fairy told her now that she remembered her true self.

"But I… I" Regina stuttered then stopped seeing Daniel.

"Regina I," Whatever he was going to say died on lips as Regina ran over and kissed him.

Regina lead Daniel over to Henry and the three of them smiled and in that moment Regina felt something she hadn't in a very long time. She felt peaceful.

"Did you really think it would be that simple?" Snow White's voice drew their attention to her presence in the doorway. Pointing to the window everyone looked just as large cloud of purple smoke engulfed the town.


End file.
